Lackenbucher loses leukemia fight

January 07, 2001|By Jeffrey Hogan

Lackenbucher, 60, died Wednesday at his home in Livingston Township after he lost a 13-year battle with leukemia that taxed his strength and weakened his body as the years progressed. Even though ill with a terminal disease, he never lost the will or drive to fight and work for others so that they may live better and healthier lives in an environment of skyrocketing medical expenses and limited accessibility based on one's financial status.

This morning family, friends and those whom his kindness and strength touched will bid him farewell during funeral services (9 a.m.) at St. Mary Cathedral in Gaylord. Visitation was held last evening at Nelson Funeral Home, and again today from 8 to 8:30 a.m. Burial will be in Resurrection Cemetery in Vanderbilt. For a complete obituary, see page D8.

Leukemia is often referred to as cancer of the blood and bone marrow that inhibits the normal manufacture of red and white blood cells and platelets, resulting in anemia, increased susceptibility to infection and impaired blood clotting. Chemotherapy is a typical treatment of leukemia, though Lackenbucher was among a tiny percentage of cancer patients whose body was resistant to the treatment.

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Lackenbucher was born in Vienna, Austria in 1940 and moved to the Gaylord area in 1984 from Arhus, Denmark, always revealing a hint of his native accent. He had a sense of focus and no-nonsense determination to get things done (promptly) when a need or issue warranted attention, and that he proudly credited to his old-world heritage in western Europe.

By profession, Lackenbucher was a management consultant for a Sweden-based company. He traveled across Europe working for struggling or failed companies in an effort to restore their operations to financial health.

As a result of Lackenbucher's vision, many would argue the people of Otsego County and northeast Michigan are better off today than they were just a few short years ago, due in large part to the man who spent his final years of life working on behalf of the medical interests of area residents. In particular, he made it easier and more convenient for those diagnosed with cancer to have access to the facilities and physicians to make them well again.

In 1998, Lackenbucher was instrumental in raising awareness and improving the outlook of the greater community on two separate fronts - both associated with health care and its level of access in a still largely rural northern Michigan.

Recognizing the need for a transportation system that could ferry Gaylord-area cancer patients regularly to and from oncologists at Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey, Lackenbucher spearheaded an effort to find a means to make it happen. And he did. He launched a campaign to solicit the interest of the American Cancer Society (ACS). Lackenbucher submitted to ACS administrators a business plan he had drawn up. Six months later, apparently impressed with his presentation and the demonstrated need, officials in Lansing agreed to purchase an eight-passenger van to transport cancer patients for treatment in Petoskey.

Working closely with him on this project was Dr. Roy Boyer of Gaylord, whom he met through Lackenbucher's organization of support groups for people with cancer. Together they wrote the business plan and solicited interest in the transportation program. Lackenbucher and Boyer also worked with the oncology staff in Petoskey who agreed to set aside a block of time each afternoon to accommodate Gaylord-area cancer patients. "Heinz went over there to speak with the staff and hospital officials too, so he was very involved in the whole process to make the van project work - and obviously it has and will continue to be a lasting gift he left behind for all of us," said Boyer.

On March 24, 1998 the new van was dedicated in a unique agreement that fostered a relationship between the local chapter of ACS and the-then new Volunteer Center of Otsego County. The Volunteer Center staff agreed to operate the "Road To Recovery" program by generating a core group of volunteer drivers to operate the van transport system. The theme for Road To Recovery - "It is about a community taking up the fight against cancer" - was adopted from ACS Relay for Life.

A plaque commemorating Lackenbucher's involvement in making the vehicle and service a reality is affixed to the dashboard of the white van, purchased through Gaylord Ford-Lincoln-Mercury.

Road To Recovery is free of charge to cancer patients, regardless of income or age.

Judy Koronka, volunteer coordinator, said in 1999 the van made 241 trips to Petoskey, and has logged more than 59,000 miles since its debut trip, on which Lackenbucher was driver on the return trip to Gaylord. In the beginning, the Road to Recovery van was a pilot program for ACS. Due to its success, it now has become a model for four other Michigan communities which have adopted similar programs, including the larger urban communities of Detroit, Grand Rapids, Flint and Muskegon.